August 11 at 01:00 Kiev time (August 10 at 18:01 North American Eastern Time) from the Space Flight Center on Wallops Island (Virginia, USA), the second medium-class launch vehicle was launched in 2021 " Antares ". The rocket launched into orbit the Cygnus unmanned cargo transport vehicle carrying 3,724 kg of NASA payload for the International Space Station.
The Antares launch vehicle consists of two stages. The main design of the first stage was developed by Yuzhnoye KB and manufactured by PO YuMZ in cooperation with the Ukrainian enterprises Khartron-Arkos (Kharkiv), Kyivpribor (Kiev), Khartron-Yucom (Zaporozhye), CHEZARA "," RAPID "(Chernigov) and others by order of Northrop Grumman Corporation (USA).
Preparation of PH "Antares", its tests and start-up were carried out with the participation of specialists from SE "Design Bureau" Yuzhnoye ", SE" PO YuMZ "and NVO" Khartron-Arkos ". According to the contract, the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau provided real-time technical support for the launch, and received and processed telemetric information. Ukrainian specialists fully ensured the implementation of all operations in their sector of responsibility.
Within the framework of the Antares program, the Ukrainian side has completed the entire range of works on the design, testing and manufacture of the material part of the main structure of the first stage for the launch vehicle.
The NG-16 spacecraft Cygnus is named after Ellison Onizuki, a Hawaiian-Japanese American astronaut who died during the launch of the Challenger shuttle.
Since 2013, the Antares launch vehicle has been launched 15 times, 14 of them successfully.
Let us remind you that last year the Antares program received the most prestigious team award of the International Academy of Astronautics "For Team Achievement" (The Laurels for Team Achievement).
Thanks to the joint work of Ukrainian and American engineers, who united two different schools of rocketry, it was possible in a short time to create a reliable, efficient and affordable commercial launch vehicle for payload delivery missions to the ISS within the framework of NASA's COTS (Commercial Orbital Services) programs. transportation) and CRS (commercial procurement services). This provided the international team of astronauts with the provisions and equipment necessary for the operation of the ISS and the implementation of research programs at the station.
